John Randolph commissioned renowned architect Henry Howard of New Orleans with the task of designing the grand mansion with the intention that no expense would be spared in the construction.

Howard sited the three-story wooden frame house, which includes a one-story rusticated stucco-covered brick base on a concrete foundation, to face east towards the Mississippi River.

The entrance facade is asymmetrically balanced, with a projecting bedroom wing to the left side and a large curved bay with galleries on the right.

The separate staircases were so that the men would not see the women's ankles beneath their skirts as they climbed, which was considered a severe breach of social etiquette at the time.

Above the capitals, small brackets branch out to carry a tall entablature decorated with modillions, supporting a projecting cornice that nearly covers the hipped roof that is pierced with six chimneys.

Above the doors and along the ceilings are plaster frieze moldings, with modillions interspersed with paterae, made from mud, clay, horse hair, and Spanish moss.

With Composite columns, hand-cast archways, and an L-shaped extension into a curved bay, Randolph had it painted entirely white, including the flooring, to show off the natural beauty of his seven daughters, six of whom would be married there.

Featuring two fireplaces with hand-carved rococo white marble mantles, there is also an original mirror placed so that the women could see if their ankles or hoops were showing beneath their skirts.

The hall was used by the Randolphs as a family parlor, being a central thoroughfare to many of the adjacent bedrooms, and gave access to the third-floor gallery with views of the Mississippi River.

Nearby is the main bedroom, with one of the three original bathrooms, as well as a small room that was used as a nursery for Julia Marceline, Randolph's last and only child born at Nottoway.

Initially, the space held the laundry, dairy, wine cellar, servants' quarters, and a 10-pin bowling alley for the children's amusement.

However, due to neglect and the erosion of six and a half acres of land by the Mississippi River, the gardens designed by Nelson no longer exist.

[3] Today, the house sits only 200 feet behind a river levee, and the grounds include a small formal hedge garden adjacent to the garçonnière where the detached kitchen once stood, and a fountain courtyard in front of the southern bedroom wing.

Soon after, Hanlon lost Nottoway to foreclosure in 1913 due to crop failures the previous two years that resulted in tax problems and accrued medical bills by his wife's failing health.

Dease restored Nottoway, working a crew of 40 to 60 men for 12 hours a day, and opened the house to the public three months after his purchase.

Arlin Dease sold Nottoway to Paul Ramsay of Sydney, Australia, in 1985, after he had stayed at the property while in the area for business.